https://sputnikglobe.com/20211130/tiny-organic-robots-made-by-us-scientists-can-reproduce--report-1091151634.html
Tiny 'Organic Robots' Made by US Scientists Can Reproduce – Report
Tiny 'Organic Robots' Made by US Scientists Can Reproduce – Report
Sputnik International
The new successive generations of the xenobots appear to become smaller and smaller, until eventually losing the ability to reproduce. 30.11.2021, Sputnik International
2021-11-30T18:57+0000
2021-11-30T18:57+0000
2021-11-30T18:57+0000
science & tech
study
robots
reproduction
organic
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Xenobots – living robots made from frog embryo cells by scientists from the University of Vermont and Tufts University in Massachusetts – have exhibited a capability for self-reproduction, the New Scientist reports.According to the magazine, these tiny multicellular organisms seem to reproduce by grouping loose cells.One experiment conducted by the researchers involved placing a group of xenobots into a dish containing about 60,000 single cells – the team discovered that the xenobots seem to cooperate to make more organisms similar to themselves.The researchers were also able to determine that each new generation of xenobot is smaller than its predecessor, with organisms containing less than 50 cells losing the ability to move and reproduce.This discovery also marks the first time “multicellular organisms have been found to self-replicate in a way that doesn’t involve growth on the organism’s own body,” the magazine states.
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science & tech, study, robots, reproduction, organic
science & tech, study, robots, reproduction, organic
Tiny 'Organic Robots' Made by US Scientists Can Reproduce – Report
The new successive generations of the xenobots appear to become smaller and smaller, until eventually losing the ability to reproduce.
Xenobots – living robots made from frog embryo cells by scientists from the University of Vermont and Tufts University in Massachusetts – have exhibited a capability for self-reproduction, the New Scientist reports.
According to the magazine, these tiny multicellular organisms seem to reproduce by grouping loose cells.
One experiment conducted by the researchers involved placing a group of xenobots into a dish containing about 60,000 single cells – the team discovered that the xenobots seem to cooperate to make more organisms similar to themselves.
“One [xenobot] parent can begin a pile and then, by chance, a second parent can push more cells into that pile, and so on, generating the child,” said Josh Bongard from the University of Vermont.
The researchers were also able to determine that each new generation of xenobot is smaller than its predecessor, with organisms containing less than 50 cells losing the ability to move and reproduce.
This discovery also marks the first time “multicellular organisms have been found to self-replicate in a way that doesn’t involve growth on the organism’s own body,” the magazine states.
“This work shows there was a previously unknown way that life could self-replicate,” Bongard remarked.
